Something to Prove
by RedSwampFox
Summary: Looking back, Rook figured he probably should have kept his doubts to himself, because the alien knows that when someone contradicts Ben, the boy develops the reckless urge to prove himself. Which is how Rook, who had been doing work in the control room, ended up with a lap full of frustrated teenage superhero.


Rook, if he was ever asked to describe himself, would say that he considered himself a fast learner. And while after spending a few weeks as Ben Tennyson's partner, Rook wouldn't necessarily say he was a master at deciphering the superhero, he would confess that it was become easier to read the small boy.

The first thing Rook ever discovered about Ben was the small human's habit of exaggerating things to the extreme. For some odd (probably human) reason that Rook could not comprehend, the small boy seemed to have a fear of being out shined or forgotten. Ben coped with this fear by being loud, pretentious, and prideful, calling attention to himself in ways that often seemed to make Rook's life more difficult.

The second and most frustrating thing Rook had observed about the boy was that Ben always had to be right.

Which is how Rook, who had been doing work in the control room, ended up with a lap full of teenage superhero, kissing Rook viciously as if he had something to prove.

Rook was surprised at first, but after giving the action proper thought, he supposed he should have seen this coming all along. In fact, Rook supposed he was a large part of the reason his lap was now being straddled by a squirming teenage boy.

In Rook's defense, Ben had been lying through his teeth (Rook was getting good at telling these sorts of things) when he'd declared that he had totally kissed before. In fact, according to Ben, he had apparently kissed more than once.

Rook didn't believe it for a second.

Looking back, Rook probably should have kept his doubts to himself, because of course the alien knows that when someone contradicts Ben, the boy develops the reckless urge to prove himself.

Rook also supposed, upon further reflection, that when Ben, after making his declaration had turned to Rook and asked, "So, how many people have you kissed?" that Rook should have lied.

But Rook, while extremely good at observing and collecting data, was not always the best at dealing with attention-hogging obnoxious teenage partners. So of course, Rook had answered with the first thing that had popped into his head. The truth.

"Quite a few actually. I was quite popular back home."

And Rook knows deep down that it was probably (definitely) childish to brag about such a thing, but Rook can't help but feel a twinge of pleasure knowing there is something he is better at (and has more experience with) than Ben.

Rook comes back to reality when Ben accidentally (and quite painfully, Rook might add) clacked their teeth together with a force that made Rook's head spin (and not in a good way). Pulling back from Ben's attempt to maul his face (and disgustingly noting the line of drool that connects their lips as he pulls away), Rook was quick to observe Ben's triumphant grin. It dawns on the alien that Ben actually thinks he has succeeded in proving that he was a skilled kisser, when in actuality all the boy had done was confirm he was arguably the densest person on the planet.

"See, told you I had kissed before!"

"That is not what I would consider kissing", Rook responded. He decided to leave out that he had found the experience generally unpleasant and Ben's lack of skill appalling. Rook believed strongly in honesty but he didn't want to completely debase the boy's confidence (just dent it a little in an attempt to make Ben more considerate towards his overworked and underappreciated alien partner).

"Don't be an idiot!" Ben objected, before grabbing the back of Rook's neck and bringing them back together for another kiss. Only Ben had misjudged the distance between them and ended up slamming Rook's nose hard into his own.

"Ow ow ow Jesus Christ! Your face is harder than Cannonbolt!" Ben whined, gripping his nose in agony.

"I am sorry for injuring you. Although I do not see what a religious deity has to do with any of this."

Ben chose to ignore this, interjecting suddenly "Oh hey I think my nose is bleeding! Cool!"

Rook quickly pulled Ben's hand away from his nose, using his other hand to feel for damaged cartilage.

"Dude I'm fine chill out don't-HEY! Get your hand out of my nose gross! Haven't you heard of personal space?!"

Rook, after finishing his inspection of Ben's nose (a bit of bleeding and bruising but no damaged cartilage), remarked dryly, "you don't get to lecture me about personal space."

Ben's brain, a little slow on the up take after being rattled around inside his skull (some would argue his brain was always slow), eventually reminded the boy of his location in Rook's lap. This in turn reminded Ben of why he was visiting Rook in the first place.

But before Ben could instigate another attempt at a kiss (Rook calculated the chance of a third kiss not being a failure was .0001 percent, based off of previous experiences and collected data), the alien quickly intervened.

"You should go get your nose looked at", he remarked, removing his hand from where he had wrapped it around Ben's wrist, marveling for a second at how a boy who ate so much could be so thin.

"But –"

"You're getting blood everywhere. Now go." Ben gave him a look that Rook translated as poorly masked insecurity. Sighing, the alien added, "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

"Why would I be worried?" Ben replied, his tone clearly implying that Rook was stupid for assuming such a thing. However, Rook also noted the boy had relaxed at the words, shoulders no longer tense and knees no longer clamped against Rook's hips in a death grip.

Reluctantly, Ben began to crawl out of Rook's lap, his bony knees digging into Rook's thighs as he maneuvered himself off the control room chair. Rook winced and suspected there would be bruises later.

Reaching the door, Ben gave Rook one last look, which the alien assumed was supposed to appear pleading (the blood spewing out of Ben's nose was ruining the puppy-esque portrayal he knew Ben was shooting for), and left.

Alone, Rook returned his gaze to the monitors, although his thoughts remained focused elsewhere.

He had a lot of thinking to do in the next few hours.

/***********************/

Disclaimer: I don't own the Ben 10 franchise or any of it's characters. I'm not making a profit from this work.

I usually choose to leave the fanfiction writing to more talented individuals. However, I found the lack of Rook/Ben on the internet appalling and decided to take matters into my own hands.

Please leave a review! They help me improve my writing as well as motivate me to write more.


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